Iowa City Juneteenth aims to educate and unite

The Union Missionary Baptists Church Crusaders drumeline and drill team performs as part of Iowa City's Juneteenth celebration at Mercer Park on June 24, 2017.(Photo: Zach Berg / Press-Citizen)Buy Photo

Over 500 people came out to Mercer Park Saturday to take part in Iowa City's seventh annual Juneteenth celebration.

The large crowd sprawled throughout the park, which featured four hours of outdoor musical performances, a performance from a Waterloo drum line and two exhibits from the African American Museum of Iowa that showcased black history to everyone from the kids to grandparents who attended the festival.

Juneteenth commemorates the day June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston Island, Texas, to announce that slavery had ended. Though the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed over two years previously, slavery was still practiced throughout the Confederate South even after the Civil War had ended.

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A crowd watches the Union Missionary Baptists Church Crusaders drumeline and drill team perform as part of Iowa City's Juneteenth celebration at Mercer Park on June 24, 2017.(Photo: Zach Berg / Press-Citizen)

"Of course we celebrate the Fourth of July, America's independence, but for those of us whose ancestors were still serving and held as slaves, we have Juneteenth to celebrate our independence," LaTasha DeLoach, the longtime organizer of Juneteenth and Iowa City Community School District Board member, said Saturday afternoon.

Though the event is aimed to educate Iowa City residents about the holiday — Juneteenth is currently recognized as a state holiday in 45 states across America, including Iowa, but is not a national holiday — DeLoach said the event is meant to bring Iowa City residents of all colors together.

The theme of this year's Juneteenth was "U & I in Community," a nod to the current political divisiveness across the country and the hope of bridging that gap by coming together as a community.

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Kids dance to the music of the Funk Daddies at Iowa City's Juneteenth celebration at Mercer Park on June 24, 2017.(Photo: Zach Berg / Press-Citizen)

"In this day's climate, with the division going on nationally and politically, this event is about us people coming together," DeLoach said. "This is supposed to be like a backyard barbecue for everyone in the area. This shows what's possible when people forget about divisions and just come together: they can have fun."

To get that backyard barbecue vibe, hundreds of burgers and pork chops were served, dozens of yard games and activities were organized and musical artists were performing throughout most of the day's events which ran from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday.

The show-stopping musical performance came from Waterloo: the Union Missionary Baptist Church Crusaders drum line and drill team. The drum line has been organizing drum lines and drill teams with young African-American kids from across the Waterloo area for 50 years, Pat Bowers, the team's co-director said after their nearly 10-minute routine ended with a massive storm of cheers and applause from the gathered audience.

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A crowd watches the Union Missionary Baptists Church Crusaders drumeline and drill team perform as part of Iowa City's Juneteenth celebration at Mercer Park on June 24, 2017.(Photo: Zach Berg / Press-Citizen)

The team tours much of state performing in parades and celebrations. DeLoach said she would love to see Iowa City support a similar program for a community drum line and drill team if they were able to get the funding for the drums, flags uniforms and more need to make their own version of the Waterloo group

"Being in this kind of group shows them what great things can be done when they come together," Bowers said.

Reach Zach Berg at 319-887-5412, zberg@press-citizen.com or follow him on Twitter at @ZacharyBerg.